|
|
Minnesota Real Estate Today News!
December 2011 - Posts
-
Low home prices and mortgage rates have combined to push home affordability to record levels nationwide. Home buyers are taking advantage. The Pending Home Sales Index rose 7 percent in November to rise to its highest level since April 2010, the last Read More...
|
-
The government confirms what the private-sector Case-Shiller Index reported yesterday. Nationwide, average home values slipped in October. The Federal Home Finance Agency's Home Price Index shows home values down 0.2% on a monthly, seasonally-adjusted Read More...
|
-
The Housing Trends Newsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources. It also includes press releases with charts and videos, key market indicators Read More...
|
-
New home inventory is approaching bull market territory. According to the Census Bureau, the number of new homes sold rose 2 percent in November . On a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis, home buyers bought 315,000 newly-built homes last month. November's Read More...
|
-
Looking for safe cities in which to live? A recent study may help you. Titled " America's Safest Cities ", Forbes Magazine compiled data from more than 70 cities with populations of 250,000 or more, and ranked them by violent crime rate Read More...
|
-
Mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 22, 2011: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.91 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, beating last week’s 3.94 percent record. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.81 percent. 15-year Read More...
|
-
Time is running out to boost to your 2011 federal tax refund. All you have to do is make your January 2012 mortgage payment while it's still December. It's a simple tax strategy that works because of how mortgage interest is paid, and of how the Read More...
|
-
Home resales moved to a 10-month high in November, the latest in a series of strong showings from the housing sector. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, November's Existing Home Sales rose to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized Read More...
|
-
The new construction housing market continues to show strength across the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Single-Family Housing Starts rose to 447,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis in November -- a 2 percent increase from Read More...
|
-
In another good sign for the housing market, today's home builders believe that the housing market has turned a corner. For the third straight month, the Housing Market Index -- a home builder confidence survey from the National Association of Homebuilders Read More...
|
-
-
As mortgage rates drop, so do housing payments. It's a good time to consider refinancing your home, or making an offer on a new one. Mortgage payment affordability has never been so high in history. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed Read More...
|
-
Foreclosure activity continues to concentrate over just a few states. According to foreclosure-tracker RealtyTrac, November's foreclosure filings fell 3 percent as compared to October, and 14 percent from November 2010. "Foreclosure filing" Read More...
|
-
Tuesday, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. The vote was nearly unanimous for the second straight month. Just one FOMC member dissented in the vote, favoring Read More...
|
-
BusinessWeek recently released its 2011 America's Best Place to Raise a Family rankings. College-town Blacksburg, Virginia took top honors, breaking a 2-year win streak for the Chicago, Illinois region. In 2009, suburban Mount Prospect, Illinois placed Read More...
|
-
For as low as 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are in Minnesota today, 15-year fixed rate mortgage rates are even lower. According to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey, the average 15-year fixed rate mortgage rate is now 3.27% nationwide Read More...
|
-
As a homeowner in Minneapolis, your fiscal responsibility extends beyond just making mortgage payments. You must also pay your home's real estate taxes as they come due, as well as your homeowners insurance policy premiums. Failure to pay real estate Read More...
|
-
Mortgage rates have troughed. Or, so it seems. According to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 4.00 percent nationwide -- roughly the same rate as it's been for 5 weeks. During that Read More...
|
-
The Federal Open Market Committee released its November 2011 meeting minutes, revealing a Fed split on whether new stimulus is needed for the U.S. economy. The Fed Minutes is published 8 times annually , three weeks after each scheduled Federal Open Market Read More...
|
-
If you're waiting for home prices to reach its bottom, you may have missed your window. After 3 consecutive months of easing, the Pending Home Sales Index jumped 10 percent in October , lending credence to the belief that housing is in recovery. The Read More...
|
-
Have you been floating a mortgage rate? It may be time to lock. At 8:30 AM ET Friday, the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its November Non-Farm Payrolls report . Better known as "the jobs report", the monthly Non-Farm Read More...
|
|
|
|